THE 2011 Galway Film Fleadh concluded on Sunday with the touching and beautiful film Beginners, starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, while the Fleadh awards were also announced.
Awards went to the new Irish movies The Guard and Parked and the animated short film The Boy Who Lived In A Bubble. A number of new award titles were also presented.
In the Features Audience Awards, The Best Irish Feature Award went to the new Irish hit comedy The Guard, directed by John Michael McDonagh. The Best First Feature Award was jointly presented to Parked (directed by Darragh Byrne ) and Charlie Casanova (directed and produced by Terry McMahon ).
The Best Feature Documentary went to Lelia Doolan for her film on Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, Bernadette: Notes on a political journey.
In the Shorts Jury Awards, The James Horgan Award for Best Animation was The Boy Who Lived In A Bubble, directed by Kealan O’Rourke. This film also won the new Don Quijote Award from The International Federation of Film Societies.
The winner of Best First Animation Award was Signs, directed and produced by Vincent Gallagher.
The Tiernan McBride Award for Best Short Drama was jointly awarded to Asal (director, Tom Sullivan ) and Even Gods (director Phil Harrison ). The Best First Short Drama went to Pentecost, directed by Peter McDonald.
The Best Short Documentary Award was won by Needle Exchange, directed by Colm Quinn. The new Donal Gilligan Award for Best Cinematography in a Short Film went to Michael Lavelle for Mummy’s Little Helper. The 30 Second Film Festival Judges Award went to Ruth Meehan.
The winner of the Galway Film Fleadh Pitching Award went to Rioghach Ni Ghrioghair for Death Rattle.
